MEMPHIS, Tenn., June 15, 2010 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Education Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EDR), a leader in the ownership, development and management of collegiate student housing, today announced that University Village Apartments on Colvin, the Company's student housing community at Syracuse University, was recently awarded Leadership in Environmental and Energy Design (LEED) Gold certification by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC).
"Buildings represent a greater percentage than transportation of the total United States energy consumption," said Randy Churchey, President and Chief Executive Officer of Education Realty Trust.
"Our company is committed to staying at the forefront of the environmental effort to serve our collegiate partners as best we can, protect the environment and save energy dollars through efficient building products, methods and systems."
Completed in 2009, the 432-bed community is made up of two and four bedroom apartments and is 100% leased for the coming school year. The five building complex also includes a clubhouse/student activity center.
"Prospective residents are usually first attracted by all of the great features of our apartments and our fitness center, study rooms, and theater, but they perk up during the tour when they hear about the insulation, water and electrical features that help reduce the cost of their utilities, and save the environment," said Matt Burkett, Community Manager at University Village Apartments on Colvin.
"A high percentage of our residents participate in day-to-day recycling as well as special events hosted here to support environmental efforts on campus," added Burkett. "We think they are inspired to do more because of where they live."
Some of the specific "green" attributes of this EDR student housing community are:
- Native-species and drought-resistant landscaping
- Water-efficient fixtures that save approximately 40,000 gallons of water each year compared to similar size buildings
- A 25 to 30 percent savings in energy usage over similarly constructed buildings as rated by HERS (Home Energy Rating System)
- Energy Star rated apartments
- Large amount of local and recycled products used in construction and finish materials
- A 40 percent reduction in construction waste over normal situations
LEED is an internationally recognized green building certification system, providing third-party verification that a building or community was designed and built using strategies aimed at improving performance across all the metrics that matter most: energy savings, water efficiency, CO2 emissions reduction, improved indoor environmental quality, and stewardship of resources and sensitivity to their impacts.
Each building within the University Village on Colvin community was individually judged and each received between 76 and 78.5 documented and approved points, which corresponds to the Gold level certification under the LEED for Homes rating system.
"Only 18 buildings in the state of New York have attained LEED Gold certification and five of them are within this student housing community," said Bruce King, managing partner, at Holmes King Kallquist & Associates, architects for this project.
"We are proud to have been a part in the creation of University Village and to be a partner with a wonderful team from the university, EDR and other contractors."
The University Village on Colvin also won "Best New Construction in Central New York in 2009" from the Central New York Business Journal's "A Time to Build" Awards.
The project was financed through EDR's On-Campus Equity Plan or "ONE Plan." Through this financing package, EDR provides the equity for the project and owns the asset while providing universities with an alternative to on-balance sheet development funding, which furthers growth while maintaining credit capacity.
EDR recently closed on financing of a new student housing development at the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry (SUNY-ESF) in Syracuse. This campus was identified by The Princeton Review and the U.S. Green Building Council as one of the nation's most eco-friendly campuses.
About Education Realty Trust
Education Realty Trust (NYSE:EDR) is a self-administered, self-managed real estate investment trust that currently owns, develops or manages 64 student housing communities in 22 states with 37,830 beds. Led by a team with more than 200 years of collective industry experience, EDR is one of America's largest owners and operators of high-quality collegiate student housing. For more information please visit the Company's website at www.edrtrust.com.
About USGBC
The U.S. Green Building Council is a nonprofit membership organization whose vision is a sustainable built environment within a generation. Since USGBC's founding in 1993, the Council has grown to more than 20,000 member companies and organizations with a comprehensive suite of LEED® green building certification systems. For more information, please visit www.usgbc.com.
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